Product description

In the fifth century B.C., a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold, and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens took on the Great King of Persia, and thereby saved not only themselves but Western civilization as well, is as heart-stopping and fateful as any episode in history. Tom Holland's brilliant study of these critical Persian Wars skillfully examines a conflict of critical importance to both ancient and modern history.

Author information

tom holland gained the top degree at Cambridge before earning his Ph.D. at Oxford. An accomplished radio personality in Britain, he has written a highly acclaimed series of adaptations for Radio 4 of Herodotus's "Histories," Virgil's "Aeneid," and Homer's "The""Iliad" and "The Odyssey." He is the author of the critically acclaimed history of the fall of the Roman Republic, "Rubicon," and the novels "The Bone Hunter," "Slave of My Thirst," and" Lord of the Dead."

Review quote

"Ambitious....a sweeping popular account that seems destined to become a classic." --"The Seattle Times""Excellent. . . . There is an even-handedness in Holland's treatment of both Greek and Persian cultural riches that is rare in popular accounts of these wars." --"Sunday Times""Holland has a rare eye for detail, drama, and the telling anecdote. . . . A book as spirited and engaging as "Persian Fire" deserves to last." --"The Telegraph"